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01-074 For Release: September 21, 2001

Pamelia Caswell Media Relations Office 216/433-2901

New "Star" Lets Learning Shine

Students from 20 Ohio schools and social organizations have good reason to watch the September 21 launch of the Starshine 3 satellite from Kodiak Island, Alaska, at 9:30 p.m. They polished some of the 1,500 mirrors that will make the satellite visible to the naked eye and allow the students to learn about Earth as they measure the satellite's position in the sky.

Fifteen of the 20 schools are in Northeast Ohio.

"That's probably in large part because, when NASA Glenn and OAI agreed -- jumped at the chance, really -- to design and build the power supply for Starshine, we learned about the exciting way school children could be involved in building the satellite, said Principal Investigator Phillip Jenkins, of OAI, Cleveland, Ohio. "We talked about it to our families, our kid's schools, to friends and even friends of friends who are teachers."

The Starshine 3 satellite is nearly a meter in diameter (37 inches), weighs 91 kilograms (200 pounds) and is covered with 1,500 mirrors polished by students from around the world. Once the satellite is in low Earth orbit, students will track it and measure its orbital decay (how quickly it is falling back to Earth). From the collection of world-wide data, students and adults can calculate the thickness of the upper atmosphere and even the effect of solar flares on it.

"Project Starshine is a great program that involves students in nearly all the stages of a science mission -- from building the satellite through data collection and interpretation," said Henry Curtis, of the Photovoltaics and Space Environment Effects Branch at Glenn.

The ambitious Project Starshine plan is for students around the world to study Earth's upper atmosphere for the full 11-year sun cycle through a series of Starshine satellites. Each satellite remains in orbit up to 1 year before burning up on reentry. Starshine 1 was launched in May 1999. Starshine 2 will be launched in the fall of 2001.

NASA Television's live coverage and commentary from Kodiak Island will begin at 7:30 p.m and continues until it has been confirmed that Kodiak Star's four satellites have been deployed. The final deployment confirmation, that of Starshine, is expected to be communicated from Antarctica approximately 2 hours, 10 minutes after launch. NASA TV is broadcast on GE-2, transponder 9 (C-Band) located at 85 degrees West longitude. Audio is also available on the V circuits that may be accessed directly by dialing 321-867-1220, -1240, -1260, -7135, or -4003. Coverage will also be webcast and may be accessed via the NASA Kennedy Space Center home page at http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/.

For more information about Project Starshine go to http://www.azinet.com/starshine/.

The list of Ohio schools participating in Starshine 3 follows:

School City

School

Point of Contact

Bay Village

Bay Village Preschool PTA

David Wilt

Bay Village

Hepp Home School

Maura M. Hepp

Cincinnati

Princeton High School

Pamela C. Farrell

Cincinnati

Cincinnati Country Day School

Jan French

Cincinnati

Montgomery Elementary

Erika Jewell

Cleveland

Thomas Jefferson Middle School

Bradley DiFranco

Cleveland

Kentucky Elementary School

Anthony Miranda

Cleveland Heights

Roxboro Middle School

Kathy Pahys

Columbia Station

Boy Scout Troop 104

Randle R. Jones

Columbia Station

Troop 795 Junior Girl Scouts

Valerie Lyons

Elyria

St. Jude School

Grace Ogonek

Fairview Park

St. Angela Elementary School

Eileen Augustin

Massillon

Jackson Middle School

Craig W. Smith

Medina

Medina Christian Academy

Timothy A. Holmes

Parma Heights

Incarnate Word Academy

Cheryl Kaminski and Anthony Miranda

Parma Heights

Parma Heights Christian Academy

Dottie Fowler

Perrysburg

Glenwood Elementary School

Linda Cutler

Rossford

Rossford High School

Richard E. Lees

Strongsville

Strongsville High School

Laurel Odeal

Valley City

Whitson Homeschool Group

Elizabeth Whitson

# # #

NOTE TO EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS: If today's Starshine launch is cancelled because of inclement weather in Alaska, launch attempts may be made on Saturday or Sunday (Sept. 22 or 23). Please check the Kennedy Space Center home page for up to date launch information.

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